Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by public companies in HUYA indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy

• 66% of the company is held by a single shareholder (Tencent Holdings Limited)

• 20% of HUYA is held by Institutions

Every investor in HUYA Inc. (NYSE:HUYA) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are public companies with 66% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Institutions, on the other hand, account for 20% of the company's stockholders. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of HUYA.

Check out our latest analysis for HUYA

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About HUYA?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

We can see that HUYA does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at HUYA's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in HUYA. The company's largest shareholder is Tencent Holdings Limited, with ownership of 66%. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund is the second largest shareholder owning 4.3% of common stock, and Point72 Asset Management, L.P. holds about 3.0% of the company stock.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of HUYA

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that HUYA Inc. insiders own under 1% of the company. It appears that the board holds about US$2.8m worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of US$945m. Many investors in smaller companies prefer to see the board more heavily invested. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 14% stake in HUYA. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 66% of HUYA. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow, for free.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.